Investment
by Aliemah
Summary: The Illusive Man is spying on Shepard just before she goes through the Omega-4 relay, making sure she stays safe and to make sure she will come back to him, and him only. This story was inspired by a photo on deviantArt by zulija. So all credit for the idea goes to zulija, I only take credit for my interpretation of said idea.


_Author's Note: This story was inspired by a photo on deviantArt by zulija. The photo is called 'Jealousy' and can be found here: __ art/Jealousy-501931457 . I have permission from zulija to use the idea that is conveyed in the description of the photo. So all credit for the idea goes to zulija, I only take credit for my interpretation of said idea. This story contains... Well quite a few spoilers for the game, and the universe in general (I've done my research on certain characters.). With that said, I hope you enjoy._

* * *

Elliot was always going to be admired by men and women. It was a fact she had long ago accepted. But she only admired one person in her life the way billions admired her, and right now she was sitting at her desk staring at his face. The photo had been pulled from an extranet search, but she could have sworn that before she died she'd had the same photo of him. Maybe it was her imagination. She slumped forward as her hand rested on the back of her neck as her head turned to lay on her left arm, still looking at the picture.

Horizon.

The name echoed in every thought and haunted her every night. She only wished that she could have him here with her tonight. She could call him, but he might not want to talk. He had apologized for what he said, and she hadn't replied back. That would be the proper thing to do. And she could very well be dead in the next 24 hours.

Kaidan deserved to know what she was doing and what was on her mind. She stared at the picture a little longer before her right hand reached out to brush over the picture, just over his lips. She missed them. Her body ached, knowing what she was missing and ultimately craving. With a sighed, her hand fell to the metal desk, and she pulled herself upright, rolling her chair to the other side of the desk and opening her terminal to open up the message again.

* * *

He sat in his chair and looked at the star before him. The room was dark except for whatever light was shining through the window, but that was all that was needed to light the room. He put the cigarette to his mouth and inhaled deeply, holding that breath while he pushed on the button that would bring up the camera feed. Jack let the smoke out of his mouth and relaxed when the right feed came into view.

"There you are." he said quietly to himself, smiling a little. He enjoyed watching her when she didn't know he was, mostly because she really let her guard down and he could see her for the woman she was. Elliot was a prime example of what humanity could achieve, if they only had the right person to lead them.

But then he frowned. Her right hand outstretched. He realized what she was doing: fantasizing about that... Man. Why was he so special? He had no real authority, he refused to exploit his biotics to their fullest potential, and he was a weak character. His loyalty, that could be admired. But it was blind loyalty. Jack knew that Kaidan Alenko's father had been in the Alliance, and that he had likely joined out of pressure from his father after shutting down Jump Zero. It was pathetic that after realizing how much power he had, that Kaidan ran from it, and exercised the upmost caution from ever allowing himself to reach that level again.

Elliot didn't need a man like that. She was strong, and willing to use whatever means necessary to get the job done. He was proud that she liked to attempt to resolve things peacefully before resulting to shooting, because she was incredibly persuasive. Jack admitted to himself that he had allowed himself to be persuaded to let her take charge of collecting her team, instead of just handing it to her with no room for questions. And on top of this, she was beautiful - the sort of beautiful that stemmed from confidence in herself.

She was the perfect woman, simply by nature. Elliot was raised to be the woman she was today. And all he could think about was what she could possibly see in Kaidan that he didn't possess. He wanted to be in Kaidan's place, or better yet, erase Kaidan. He thought he'd done that on Horizon, but just a few weeks later he saw the message that had been sent to her. What was worse was that he pulled up the screen on her terminal, and saw that she was trying to write a reply. He could easily intercept the message - make sure it never got through.

But if Elliot made it through - and he was going to make sure she did - she would find out that the message had never been sent, one way or another. Best to let her send the message. Jack stood from his chair, to examine the screen further, and to get a better look at the woman.

He wanted to reach out and touch her so bad. The feeling sometimes caught him by surprise, because he was so used to being cold. Elliot had made him feel alive again, like the man he used to be. Duty and loyalty had always been important to him - the definition had simply changed over time. Before, he would follow any superior on command, and never question. Now, he had a goal, and held those who would follow his word without question in high regard. The tables had turned but had anything really changed? Wasn't he simply the one giving orders now?

No, he was doing the right thing. Elliot was doing the right thing. It was Kaidan who was the problem. He was the one who was breaking that loyalty.

Kaidan had watched as his commander died, and had been loyal to her so much that he likely would have done anything if she had asked. A weak man to not think about the consequences of blind loyalty! But when he'd found her alive again, he'd pushed away. Did that loyalty mean nothing? Was she not good enough?

Jack's head was swirling with accusations that somehow reflected back on himself. He'd defected from the Alliance. He'd broken his oath of loyalty only to demand more of it from his own. He'd rejected so many in anger because he thought himself the better man. All that remained now was the similarities that the two had. It was hard to swallow - to think that he was so similar to the man that he accused of being the worst of the two.

He sat back down again with a sigh, watching as Elliot turned off her console, moving to her bed. He was so tired, but he had to make sure they made it through the relay. Jack could rest when the mission was finished. He _would _sleep when Elliot was safe. For now, she was safe, and so he turned the camera off. Curiosity got to him and he pulled open her messages, searching for the one that had just been sent.

_Kaidan,_

_You shouldn't be the one apologizing to me about what happened. I deserved some of what you said and you know it. I did look for you when I met with Anderson, I swear I did. But he kept me in the dark just as much as with you. Maybe it was for the best that we didn't know what was going on at the time, and maybe we needed some time apart._

_I'm not saying that I don't still think about you, but I have more important things to deal with at the moment. In fact I'm heading through the Omega-4 relay right this moment to stop the Collectors. You're doing important things of your own, so don't worry about me, because it's just as important that you finish your job as it is for me. I will come back, I promise._

_If it's not too much to ask, maybe we can have a drink when I get back. I'll make sure to call you the moment I return, so you can tell me where I'll find you. And for your ease of mind, this is the last run Cerberus is sending me on. I'm going back to the Alliance when I'm done with the Collectors. I'm going back home to you._

_Be safe._

_S._

He threw his glass through the holographic screen, growling and then shutting it off. The glass shattered moments later. He'd lost her for now, but she could always come back. She _would_ come back to him, once she had nothing to go back to. He turned to the other screen and began to not only start to pinpoint Alenko's location, but also to locate several agents, sending a message that they had an opportunity that would be hard to pass up.

When Elliot returned there would be no Kaidan Alenko to speak of.


End file.
